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View Full Version : It's OK to Ignore the Boss. Really.


David McNamee
04-20-2004, 06:30 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/04/13/go.work.life.tech/' target='_blank'>http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/04/13/go.work.life.tech/</a><br /><br /></div>This recent CNN article discusses Microsoft UK's guidelines that were issued regarding off-hours communication. "The provision of a smart phone in no way requires users to either view or respond to business related emails or calls out of office hours," this from Microsoft's Director of People and Culture, Steve Harvey.<br /><br />Mr. Harvey continues: "Individuals are not skilled in setting the boundaries between work and home (and) colleagues fail to respect other's rights to free time." Guidelines were issued after Microsoft gave more than 400 employees a Smartphone, a Tablet PC, and broadband access at home. Work productivity increased, but people were concerned about encroachments on their personal time.<br /><br />I'm a pretty connected and mobile person. I have a Smartphone, a Tablet PC, and a SPOT watch. I have broadband access at home, and WiFi hot spot access on the road. I'm pretty easy to get hold of - either through voice, IM, or e-mail. You can even contact me while I'm playing games on XBOX Live! I would go insane if I didn't put limits on my time. Now, I don't have a set time when I start shutting down devices at night. Especially since I don't have a typical "9 to 5" sort of job. But if the phone rings while I'm at home, I know that I have the choice of not answering.<br /><br />How do you feel? Is there a pressure to answer every call, reply to every e-mail or text message? Or do you find that you can keep that balance between your work and personal lives?

Neil
04-20-2004, 09:22 PM
The worst I've ever been is when I owned a Blackberry a few years ago and was constantly looking for new email. It took me a long time to kick the habit, but I'm pretty good about it now. When I'm at home I don't normally check work e-mail, although some evenings I will scan through stuff before I go to bed.

IM is the harder one: when your IM list has a mix of friends and co-workers, and many co-workers are both, it's very easy to get bothered about work stuff via an IM conversation when you're not in work mode. Sometimes you just have to nip those in the bud and say "sorry, tomorrow!".

Neil

Mike Temporale
04-21-2004, 03:48 AM
I think it really depends on the situation. My current client has hired me to make sure things run smoothly during their quarter end. Most of the people in the department work 6 or 7 days a week during each quarter end. If they call me with a problem or even a simple question, I tend to let it happen. However, for other times of the year and other clients, most of the time I don't answer until I'm ready and willing.

Neil
04-21-2004, 04:09 AM
My current client has hired me to make sure things run smoothly during their quarter end.

Jason's working you to the bone for the end of the Thoughts Media Empire fiscal quarter?

:lol: